1) Knowing vocabulary, especially academic vocabulary, is essential for successful reading in a second language. Vocabulary knowledge contributes more to reading comprehension than other linguistic factors like grammar. 2) Guessing the meaning of unknown words from context has limitations and is not a reliable strategy for real reading. It can lead to frustration and incorrect guesses. 3) Looking up unknown words using a dictionary, especially electronic bilingual dictionaries, improves both vocabulary learning and reading comprehension. Students should be taught effective dictionary skills.

1. Reading and Vocabulary: Knowing, Guessing and Looking It UpSusan HolzmanETAIJuly, 2010

2. So, how do we “teach” reading?

3. predictingSchemataWriter’s purposegenreWorld KnowledgescanningskimmingInferencingTeaching reading ?

4. Is L2 reading a reading problem or a language problem? (Alderson, 1984)

5. Should we teach reading (skills and strategies)???Should we teach language?

6. Swan (2008) says:The teaching of reading skills….commonly involves strategies which are of doubtful value…

7. Alderson (1984) saidBelow a certain level of language proficiency, reading is a languageproblem…..

8. KNOWINGFor the task of academic reading, the main knowledge type of interest is lexical. Word knowledge is the key ingredient in successful reading in L1 and L2. . ., contributing more to L2 reading than other types of linguistic knowledge including syntax…”[Cobb and Horst, 2001]

9. KNOWING. . .it has been consistently demonstrated that reading comprehension is strongly related to vocabulary knowledge, more strongly than to other components of reading”Syntactic complexity. . .was found not to affect the level of reading comprehension. Laufer, 1997

10. Grabe (1997) The finer points of grammar were unnecessary…what was more crucial for comprehension was a continuous supply of new vocabularyKNOWING

11. CONCLUSION 1Teach vocabulary

12. Knowledge of the worldKnowledge of the languageKnowledge of readingWorking MemoryTEXTWhat do you do when you meet an unknown word that you do not want to ignore?

13. What happens when we meet unfamiliar vocabulary?Option 1 - Guess in ContextOption 2 – Use a dictionary English English Bilingual/Bilingiualized Electronic Bilingual

14. Option 1Guess in ContextUse word families, use contextWhat happens to working memory?Does this strategy work?

15. GIST ofTEXTLong term memoryrootsWorking MemoryShort term memoryPrefixessuffixesinflectionsGuessing in Context

16. GUESSINGBut there were two problems with the guessing theory. First there was little evidence for it and strong evidence against it….Second, the theory was harmless enough in L1 where children, whatever their teachers’ theories, made their guesses from a well-developed linguistic knowledge base.But if L2 readers were not taught vocabulary and syntax, then they were really guessing when they read, from whatever world knowledge they happened to possess. Cobb and Horst, 2001

17. GUESSINGThe findings from the few reasonably well-conducted studies of guessing by non-native speakers have not shown large amounts of successful guessing and learning from guessing.Nation, 2001

18. GUESSINGSwan (2008)The teaching of reading skills….commonly involves strategies which are of doubtful value: this is especially the case for training in ‘guessing unknown words’

19. GUESSINGThe results of this study shed light on the efficacy of guessing strategy. It was found that the ability of learners to guess the meaning of unknown words is of limited value….Kaivanpanah and M Alavi, 2008

20. “He felt that high levels of frustration developed when a reader relies solely on guessing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items: The reader has a need to know that certain meanings are correct so that they can continue to read with some level of confidence…” (Grabe, 1997, p. 112)GUESSING

21. CONCLUSION 2Guessing might be a nice classroom exercise..But it is NOT a useful strategy for real reading

22. Option 2: Use a dictionaryBook or electronic?English-EnglishBilingual/Bilingualized?Electronic?

23. LOOKING IT UPBill [Grabe] made reasonably good progress learning to read with the primary input being extensive reading and bilingual dictionary use…Grabe, 1997

24. LOOKING IT UP. . .the dictionary not only improved vocabulary learning, but also contributed to increased reading comprehensionGrabe, 1997

25. Since the amount of information that can be cognitively manipulated at one point by controlled processing is limited, focusing on slightly or completely unfamiliar words will take up some cognitive capacity that would otherwise be used for higher level processing of text. Laufer, 1997 LOOKING IT UP

26. GIST ofTEXTLong term memoryK l m n Working MemoryShort term memoryA b c dO p q r s…E f g h I j Bilingual Dictionary

27. Long term memoryGIST ofTEXTWorking MemoryShort term memoryknowledge of the keyboardElectronic Dictionary

28. CONCLUSION 3For unknown vocabulary, students should :Use a dictionary

29. Readingand Vocabulary: Knowing,GuessingandLooking It UpCLASSROOM APPLICATIONS

30. Classroom Applications:KNOWINGbut the ultimate purpose of language teaching is to give students the language they need in order to read texts, not to teach them to manage as well as they can without that language. Research has shown that for efficient reading, skilled readers need to be able to recognize rapidly 95% or more of the words in a text (Grabe and Stoller 2002: 186). And in any case, if a student is seriously held up while reading by a difficult word, looking the word up beats guessing…(Swan, 2008)

31. Classroom Applications:KNOWING Teach vocabularyBasic vocabularyAcademic vocabulary Words with two meaningsWords that can be confusedLexical phrases

32. Classroom Applications:GUESSINGUse guessing in context as a classroom technique for teaching and reviewing vocabulary Roots Prefixes Suffixes Inflections

33. Classroom ApplicationsLOOKING IT UPActively teach dictionary useLooking for the base form of the wordFinding the right meaningFinding lexical phrases

34. Thank youSusan Holzmanholzms@zahav.net.ilARAB ACADEMIC INSTITUTE FOR TEACHER TRAINING AT BEIT BERL